Our culture emphasizes teamwork and an unqualified commitment to excellence and is a key reason for our success. T&K was recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2017 among the most highly recognized law firms in the U.S.

Thompson & Knight is a growing Firm that recognizes the importance of hiring qualified lawyers, paralegals, and administrative professionals who can contribute to the growth of our practice and support our diverse client base. We are committed to the success of each employee and the impact they have on the future growth of Thompson & Knight.

Trademarks, Service Marks, and Trade Dress

Practice Contact

Thompson & Knight regularly counsels and represents clients on all aspects of trademark and trade dress protection and enforcement. A number of our IP attorneys devote their entire practice to trademarks and have extensive experience in managing national and international trademark portfolios for their clients. We have represented clients in the prosecution of foreign and domestic trademark applications, including negotiation of trademark opposition, in the vast majority of the world's countries.

Ranked among the top firms in Texas for three consecutive years by World Trademark Review 1000 2015-2017, the directory described Thompson & Knight’s trademark group as "having extensive trademark know-how" that is "supplemented by the firm's deep understanding of advertising, social media, and antitrust issues. The Firm has twice been awarded the "Top Trademark Law Firm in Dallas" by NameProtect Trademark Insider®.

In addition to trademark portfolio management services, our trademark lawyers also provide advice on the licensing of trademarks and service marks, the monitoring of licensing arrangements, and the treatment of licenses and the assignment of marks in connection with forming, operating, financing, and selling businesses. We also counsel clients on contests, sweepstakes, data collection, privacy, and other statutorily-regulated areas that often interface with the use of trademarks, trade names, and service marks in the digital age.

Our attorneys have extensive experience in enforcing and defending trademark, trade dress, dilution, and unfair competition rights. We have been involved in leading decisions relating to trademark dilution, trade dress infringement, trademark infringement, and infringement of rights of publicity in the Fifth Circuit, Federal Circuit, and other circuits. Our trademark attorneys have also provided advice and coordination relating to the handling of trademark disputes outside of the United States.

Practice Contacts

Experience

We represented a high-tech company against claims of trademark infringement and dilution brought by a holder of a federally registered and incontestable trademark related to electromechanical devices, demonstrating lack of confusion, generic application, and fair use.

We represented a client that had donated more than $1 million worth of its seed corn to a charitable group for nonprofit distribution in foreign countries, obtaining a TRO and preliminary injunction based upon trademark infringement, unfair competition, and contract claims against a grain dealer that had acquired the corn, allowed it to deteriorate, and then marketed it throughout North America in bags bearing our client's trademark.

We represented a multibillion-dollar semiconductor company in changing its corporate name and identity around the world by conducting a global trademark and corporate name clearance search.

We represented a foreign corporation in developing a U.S. plan for copyright and trademark protection for its product lines and marketing efforts.

We helped a technology start-up company manage its trademark portfolio, prepare marketing materials to maximize mark protection, and plan its foreign trademark portfolio for maximum effectiveness and minimum cost.

We represented a major soft drink company in a trademark infringement action against an unauthorized distributor of its products.

We represented a domestic client in developing a foreign trademark portfolio, including mark prosecution in over 15 countries.

We represented a golf course owner in the narrative use of trademarks.